


Remember His Name (He Had To)

by thronebreaker



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-02
Updated: 2012-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-07 17:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3177647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thronebreaker/pseuds/thronebreaker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the very least, there's one name he wants to remember. (Spoilers for ASOS onwards.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember His Name (He Had To)

**Author's Note:**

> based at the start of ADWD.

His name was Reek, and it made his insides crumble. Ash prickled in his throat and his heart had long been crushed into a fine dust that settled over his lungs. It was easier to think of it like that, like it wasn’t real. He had been salt and brine mixed in snow, and now he was ash and dust in a cell, where he belonged. Moonlight slashed through the bars of the cell’s window, making Reek squint. 

_It’s just a room, it’s just a cold room._ The rooms at Winterfell had been cold, and Theon Greyjoy had wrapped himself in furs and cloth. But furs were not in this cold room, and neither was Theon Greyjoy. 

A rat skittered along the floor, bigger than Reek had ever seen, with hair the colour of rust. He watched it run back and forth between the walls. _For rats, cells can be big as castles._  

His name had been Robb, and he had his mother’s hair. Auburn, like the trees in the weirwood, warmth and reverence. 

Reek’s eyes crawled along the walls, looking for a crack big enough to house the rat. There was only room enough for one spit of vermin in the cell. One of the Walders had said that to Reek once, after.. 

The iron cuffs around Reek’s feet clinked as he shifted his knees to his chin.  _They put it here._ Lord Ramsay wanted him to eat it, so he could send one of his men to catch him with it. Then they’d hurt him again. And again, and again, until there wasn’t any pain. There would be only Reek and the flesh, his skin slipping through his fingers and streaking blood over his palms.  _And the laughter._

His name had been Robb, and he’d made Theon smile.

Reek closed his eyes and hid his face from the moonlight, eyes pressed against his knees. The rat’s little feet scratched at the floor.  _They say I’m vermin, too. We could be brothers._


End file.
